Roman Reigns’ Best Promo Ever Was Just A Single Line

Over the last year or so, Roman Reigns has been doing some of the best work of his entire career as the number one heel in WWE, leading his own group, The Bloodline, and having standout feuds on WWE programming. He has been the major highlight of Smackdown over the last twelve months or more, with his ability on the microphone skyrocketing to main event heights – something which hasn’t been a big part of his arsenal in the past. Even with the terrific work he is doing now, his best promo came in 2017 on the post-WrestleMania 33 Raw, and it was just five words.

Roman Reigns’ Babyface Push Was Failing In WWE

Going into WrestleMania 33, the Roman Reigns experiment still wasn’t working. For nearly three years, WWE had tried to push him as the top babyface in the company, and this was his third WrestleMania main event in a row, with him battling some of the top names in the industry in those matches: Brock Lesnar, Triple H, and The Undertaker. Even though he was getting the proverbial rub from working with these legends, and even with his ability to pull out a good match, the fans weren’t buying it.

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There were several reasons why Reigns didn’t work as a face, the main one being that his push felt incredibly forced, especially when there were much more popular options elsewhere on the roster. Another contributing factor was his promo ability, which felt lackluster and weak compared to most. When looking back, it was clear that this was down to the content provided to him by WWE. Whether it be cringeworthy jokes, over-the-top statements, or badly written jibes, anything that came out of Reigns’ mouth felt contrived or unnatural.

WWE desperately wanted Reigns to be a cool, funny babyface, in the same vein as the likes of The Rock and John Cena, but the lines he was given were not comedic, and the fans got sick of it quickly. There were times when Reigns was over with the crowd, and it was when he was kicking ass and running through opponents – something he was great at. When Reigns allowed his actions to do the talking, and when he was more serious, shedding all the poor comedy, he felt like a star.

Reigns Received Scorching Heat After Being The Undertaker

When it came to his match against The Undertaker, it was a foregone conclusion that he was going to be just the second man to defeat Taker at WrestleMania, and doing so would not be a popular decision with the audience. Regardless, WWE proceeded with the match, but during the feud, Reigns felt colder, more direct, and less like the silly babyface he’d been presented as for so long. One thing that fans would have perhaps accepted, was a change in attitude and heel turn following his match with Undertaker.

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Being the man to (at the time) retire The Undertaker was a huge bragging right to have and being a heel would allow that individual to be propelled to greater heights, and with the disdain fans had for Reigns, it felt like a no-brainer decision. When he came out on the Raw after WrestleMania, he was drowned in a sea of the most thunderous boos and jeers that any superstar, heel or babyface, had seen for a long time.

“The Is My Yard Now” Is An Iconic WWE Promo

Reigns stood in the ring, stone-faced with an air of satisfaction, commanding the entire arena, soaking up the tsunami of negativity that came over him. This chorus of boos lasted for minutes on end, with the crowd unrelenting in their show of displeasure, and all Reigns had to do was stand there and look around, reigniting the boos by just moving the microphone slightly towards his mouth. At that moment, Reigns looked like the most natural heel in the business, and he looked comfortable in that role.

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After what felt like forever, Reigns brought the microphone up to his mouth, and said just give short words, “This is my yard now.” He dropped the mic and swiftly left. In just a short sentence, Reigns said so much, and it was phenomenal. The only dampener on this is that WWE didn’t follow it up, and switched back to his babyface push. However, that promo sold him as someone who could be a star with the right character, and fast-forward a few years later, and he is taking the world by storm as the top heel in the company. Even with the great work he is doing now, that one-line promo is still the most remarkable of his run.